St Mark's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate an unmistakeable sense of purpose when they arrive at the pre-school. They are greeted by managers and staff who are also looking forward to the day's events. This helps children to start the day ready for both new and familiar adventures. Children enter a world that is born out of staff's expert knowledge of how children learn. They know, for example, that the baby dolls will be in the role-play area, waiting to be looked after. They know that the day will follow a predictable pattern, interspersed with surprises and new learning. They know the staff's high expectations for their positive behaviour and strive hard to meet them, even when this is challenging. All children, including children who speak English as an additional language and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make excellent progress and feel extremely secure.

Parents and carers feel highly valued and supported by the pre-school team. This helps to motivate parents' active participation in pre-school events. As a result, children benefit from strong and effective partnerships between home and the setting. When COVID-19 (coronavirus) requirements prevented children from attending pre-school, staff kept in close touch with families. Their individually tailored support ranged from delivering toys, to helping families establish consistent routines for the long days at home. This helped everyone to work together really well to continue children's learning.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Managers demonstrate a superb attention to detail that underpins the curriculum. For example, staff want children to learn to make their own play dough. They equip the 'dough station' with everything that children need. Children repeat the activity, with decreasing guidance from adults. They gain mastery and independence because staff expect and support them to achieve highly.
• Staff plan activities that target children's communication skills really precisely. Children learn that rockets and giraffes are tall. Staff seamlessly add concepts, such as 'taller' and 'tallest', into the engaging play and conversation. Children learn vocabulary in a way that deepens their understanding and enriches their experience.
• When children speak English as an additional language, managers invite parents to read stories in their home languages to the group. This fascinates the children and they learn more about the wider world. Staff learn to say words in children's home languages. Their determined quest for new knowledge makes staff excellent role models for the children.
• Staff expertly apply their knowledge of child development to sequencing children's learning. Younger children develop dexterity and finger strength when they knead dough and operate litter pickers. They learn words to describe movement and direction. Older children bring this learning together when they begin to form written letters correctly and smoothly.
• Staff act swiftly and effectively to support children whose development gives cause for concern. Children who have SEND benefit from the pre-school's close partnership with external professionals. Staff carefully dovetail children's individual learning programmes into planned and spontaneous teaching.
• Staff explain their thinking and actions clearly to children. For example, staff go to wash their hands before handling children's toothbrushes. They tell children that this is because they do not want to pass germs on. This deliberate modelling of hygiene routines helps to embed healthy habits. Children also learn to confidently explain the reasons for their actions.
• Staff promote children's positive behaviour and attitudes exceptionally well. Children and adults add a conker to the conker jar when they do something really well. Examples include 'excellent teamwork at tidy-up time', 'trying really hard when something is difficult', or 'going to the pre-school garden plot with parents to do some extra weeding'. Staff praise both individual and communal effort. When the jar is full, everyone celebrates everyone's effort.
• Managers and staff watch each other teaching and make insightful suggestions for improvement. A recent observation prompted a review of how and when children learn about measurement. The team added a set of scales to the dough station. Children now empty their cups of flour onto the scales and watch the needle move. The intention is that children will learn to accurately measure the flour, using both weight and cups.
• Staff suggest practical and interesting ideas for family activities. Parents take home paper bags and help children to collect evidence of autumnal changes to bring to pre-school. They learn that enjoyable, everyday activities are also wonderful learning experiences. Parents say that 'pre-school activities create a lasting impression on not only the children but parents and carers too'.